452
Peter breaks Victoria out of jail, but she is shot and wounded during the escape. Synopsis Teaser : A séance has been held in the great house at Collinwood, a séance which has suspended time and space, and sent one woman on an uncertain and frightening journey into the past, back to the year 1795. There Victoria Winters has been condemned as a witch and sentenced to be hanged by the neck until dead. One man could save her, but to do so he would have to reveal a terrifying secret. It is 2am when Joshua Collins returns to Collinwood. Naomi demands to know why he was at the Old House. She explains that she went there because Millicent claimed he was there with Barnabas. Naomi believes Barnabas is still alive. Act I Joshua denies Barnabas is alive, even though she claims to have heard Barnabas' voice. He explains to Naomi that he was at the Old House with a woman, Bathia Mapes, attempting to exorcise the curse placed by the real witch, Angelique. He says he will go to Judge Hanley to explain that Victoria is not the witch and that the execution should not take place at dusk tomorrow as planned. Act II Peter Bradford returns from Salem and tells Victoria the bad news that he could not find Reverend Trask. The people in Salem all thought he was still in Collinsport. Peter even checked with a number of inns between Collinsport and Salem, and no one had seen Trask. Joshua arrives to give his deepest apologies to Victoria for having misjudged her and to tell her that he will go to Judge Hanley and tell him he must reopen the trial on the grounds that Abigail was not in her right mind and was unreliable when she testified. Act III Joshua repeats this to the stubborn Judge Hanley who goes over the facts that Joshua changed his mind about Victoria's guilt, and that the court also heard Naomi’s testimony in her defense and it did no good at the time. Joshua tells him that Abigail was not in her right mind and was always searching for the devil somewhere. Peter mentions Trask’s note and Hanley says it seems to be in his handwriting, but without Trask present to verify it, the note has to be discounted. Hanley tells Joshua that if he thought Miss Winters was innocent, he would do all in his power to stop the execution, but unless Joshua can produce a new witness, one who can testify that Angelique is indeed the witch, he is powerless. Act IV Joshua and Peter return to Victoria's cell and tell her the bad news. Joshua again offers his deepest apologies and leaves. A few minutes later, after the guard ushers Peter out, Peter grabs the guard's pistol and orders him to enter Victoria's cell. Peter hands Victoria the pistol as he attempts to put a gag on the guard, but the guard manages to break free and attempts to take the pistol from Victoria. The pistol goes off in the struggle, and Victoria is hit in the left shoulder. People have heard the gunshot, and Peter and Victoria attempt to leave the jail. Memorable quotes Dramatis personae * Joan Bennett as Naomi Collins * Louis Edmonds as Joshua Collins * Roger Davis as Peter Bradford * Leslie Barrett as Judge Hanley * Alexandra Moltke as Victoria Winters * Howard Honig as Gaoler (uncredited) Background information and notes Production * This is the first time Bathia Mapes' name is mentioned on-screen. She was never seen to gave her name, and no one called her by name in the episodes where she appeared. Story * Judge Hanley talks about a jury having convicted Victoria. But we never saw a jury, and every indication is that the verdict was decided by the tribunal of three judges. * TIMELINE: Day 184 begins, and will end in 453. 2am at the start of this episode. Victoria's execution has been set for dusk tomorrow evening (this doesn't happen as planned due to Peter breaking Victoria out of jail). Bloopers and continuity errors * At the beginning of the teaser, we see Naomi in the drawing room. We hear the sound of the front door, and Naomi turns to enter the foyer. As she enters the foyer, she stops and looks surprised as the foyer is empty. Then the front door opens and Joshua enters. Clearly the sound we and Joan Bennett heard was not the front door, but it caused her to enter the foyer prematurely. * When Naomi confronts Joshua in the beginning of the episode, Louis Edmonds almost calls Naomi "Millicent". He catches his mistake immediately, and then corrects himself. * The bars on Victoria's cell do not go all the way to the ceiling; they are only about seven feet tall. Any reasonably fit prisoner, such as Victoria, would be able to climb over them and escape. External Links Dark Shadows - Episode 452 on the IMDb Dark Shadows Everyday - Episode 452 - The Great EscapeCategory:Dark Shadows episodes